What would you like to learn?

This past weekend, I spent a glorious rainy three days in Austin with other Feldenkrais teachers from around the country. We had gathered for the opportunity to step out of our habitual teacher roles and once again to assume the role of student. The Feldenkrais Method® is about life-long learning, so we take our own personal and professional development very seriously. It is always a joy to lie on the floor as a class member, and enter the intriguing kinesthetic puzzle of Awareness Through Movement®.

The workshop had an advertised topic which was of interest to me, and the teachers were friends whom I don’t often get to see. I was “all in” for a great experience, and that experience was that I learned things I didn’t know were important for me to know. The element of surprise made the weekend learning exciting and profound. If you are coming for classes, lessons, or workshops in the near future, you’ll be the direct beneficiary.

It was after class that I had an opportunity to reflect upon what I was learning. It was fun and specific in the moment, but later I could appreciate the deeper levels, the broader applications, the wider implications for other aspects of my life. I thought about my students, what they say they want to learn, and what else they might learn. Are the deeper, unadvertised lessons a side-effect of the Method, or are they the true essence?

Moshe Feldenkrais sometimes spoke of assisting people “to live their vowed and unavowed dreams.” I think of a person who came to me for voice lessons because her dream was to learn to sing. What she learned along the way was how to find her voice, how to speak up for herself, and how to express her true self. That is an unavowed dream. When I work with someone, I think of the possible unavowed dream: to walk tall, to be resilient, to feel comfortable in one’s own skin, to feel a sense of power and agency in one’s life, to feel free.

Jane Brody, New York Times 10/31/2017

"I had long refrained from writing about this method of countering pain because I thought it was some sort of New Age gobbledygook with no scientific basis. Boy, was I wrong!" Click image to read the full article.

Featured in Houstonia Magazine, March 2017

Our Awareness Through Movement(R) class at the Jung Center was named one of Houston's best continuing ed classes in Houstonia Magazine. Read the article here.

Feldenkrais Method in US News & World Report

The Feldenkrais Center of Houston and MaryBeth Smith were mentioned in this article from 11/14/2016. Click image to find out more!

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The Fine Print

Copyright 2018 MaryBeth Davison Smith. All rights reserved.

Feldenkrais®, Feldenkrais Method®, Awareness Through Movement®, Functional Integration®, are registered service marks of the FELDENKRAIS GUILD® of North America.
Feldenkrais® photos by Rosalie O'Connor. Other photos used by permission.